Haier to make washing machines in Hefei

Chinese home appliances giant Haier Group is building a washing machine plant in Hefei, the capital of East China's Anhui province, that can produce three million units every year.

The company's move comes close on the heels of its main competitor Meiling's decision to set up a washing machine plant in Hefei with an annual capacity of 2 million units. Both the units will be in the Hefei Economic and Technological Development Area (HETDA), which also has home appliance plants of Midea and Gree.

Haier's new plant, with an investment of 1.01 billion yuan ($153 million), is based on the original plant previously owned by a joint venture of Jinan Iron & Steel and Hitachi Construction Machinery.